''Adscita geryon'', the cistus forester, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Zygaenidae The Zygaenidae moths are a family of Lepidoptera. The majority of zygaenids are tropical, but they are nevertheless quite well represented in temperate regions. Some of the 1000 or so species are commonly known as burnet or forester moths, oft ...

. It is found in southern and central Europe, east to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It is also present in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

.Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: ''Nachtfalter, Spinner und Schwärmer'', S. 476ff, Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

is 20–25 mm. Adults are on wing in July in one generation per year. They feed on the nectar of ''

Gymnadenia ''Gymnadenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family (Orchidaceae) containing 22 terrestrial species. The former genus ''Nigritella'' is now included in ''Gymnadenia''. They can be found in damp meadows, fens and marshes, and on ch ...

'' species. The warm habitat is dry grasslands and alpine meadows up to an altitude of 2,400 meters. The larvae feed on ''

Helianthemum nummularium ''Helianthemum nummularium'' (known as common rock-rose) is a species of rock-rose (Cistaceae), native to most of Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical s ...

''. Young larvae

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

the leaves of their host plant. They create a number of fleck mines. The opening of the mine is a slit at the side. The mines contain little or no

frass Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter. Definition and etymology ''Frass'' is an informal term and accordingly it is variously used and variously defined. It is derived from the G ...

. Older larvae live free on the plant. The larvae can be found from July to May of the following year.

Subspecies

*''Adscita geryon geryon'' (from the Iberian Peninsula and Britain to European Russia, the Crimea and Turkey) *''Adscita geryon acutafibra'' Verity, 1946 *''Adscita geryon orientalis'' (Alberti, 1938) Adscita geryon-M-Salzburg, Hohe Tauern, Rauriser Tal, Bocksteinkar-E-MK-21293a.jpg, Specimen Moths of the British Isles Series2 Plate147.jpg, Illustration Adscita geryon in copula.ogv, thumbtime=50, ''Adscita geryon'' mating (video, 1m 55s) Buckler W The larvæ of the British butterflies and moths PlateXVIII.jpg , Figs. 3, 3a larvae after last moult

References

Procridinae Moths described in 1813 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Articles containing video clips {{Zygaenidae-stub